We arrived on the night, had drinks in the bar, which is cool, modern and as can be seen from the photos quite dark and then shown upstairs to our table, which is where, for me it really went downhill.
A chap, who I can only presume was the Restaurant Manager, came to the table and asked who was the vegan, gave some spiel about not being a typical fine dining restaurant, recommended the five course tasting menu and then disappeared. I had no menu and I was confused, so when a waitress came to take our order, I explained about the response I had about three course A La Carte, allergies etc, which she seemed completely unaware of, wrote them all down again and went off to the kitchen. She returned to say that chef was preparing something special, at which point alarm bells started ringing, I have heard that before.
Our waitress brought some lovely looking bread for my husband, which contained butter, so she gave me four toasted triangles of gluten free bread. I explained I was not GFand that having looked at GF bread for a friend, any I had found all contained egg. She was adamant it did not contain egg, but said she would find out for me, I am still waiting to find out on that one, but it looked so dry and I was unsure, so I left it.
Amuse bouche was char grilled sweetcorn, broccoli and lettuce with a dressing, but having no menu to refer to, I cannot remember what it was.
Starter was an assiette of beetroot, served by a young lady chef, who explained the various cooking methods, candied, pickled and I think there was beetroot quinoa, nicely cooked and presented and tasted okay.
Main course was mushroom risotto, char grilled leeks, truffle and balsamic pearls (maybe they use Belazu, I have some in the cupboard at home). No denying it was a good risotto, but it was a safe dish, no innovation or use of all the magnificent ingredients we have available these days, very boring in fact.
The finale was even more safe and boring than the main course, a fruit salad, pimped up and served with sorbert. Honestly could they not think of anything more creative, shame on them, but what do you expect for £50 per head?
The wines I chose were excellent, served by the glass and vegan, so a L'Ormarine Picoul de Pinet to start and a Domaine La Motte Chablis with the mains.
I was not particularly impressed with the service either, the wine Sommelier just plonked glasses on the table, no explanation of the wines or anything and the waitress made me feel I was a nuisance. As for the food, well I felt I had travelled back twenty plus years in a tardis, when my fine dining experiences and my mission to get something better than a risotto and a fruit salad began. If I had just walked in off the street on the night and put the kitchen on the spot, I could understand, but to give three months notice, it is just not acceptable and lazy. Would I go back, no chance, I will be off back to The French, who really know how to look after their customers, whatever their dietary requirements.
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